Coniston, Lake District – Jon Sparks, 2007

My partner and I were out scrambling for fun, celebrating the completion of a book project in the area, and this was a spontaneous, ‘good-to-be-alive’ moment – though I then asked her to hold the pose a few moments longer. There was a very high brightness range so I bracketed the exposures: I was pleasantly surprised to be able to extract detail all the way from deep shadows to bright highlights from a single RAW file, but it took some work. I think it would have been a real struggle to get such a good result if I’d been shooting on film.

I see it as a good stock shot which should find a home in magazines, walking guides and so on.

In the early years of Jon’s career, his work was very much rooted in his home patch of North Lancashire and Cumbria, shooting for the local tourist boards, producing postcards, greetings cards and subsequently calendars, which he continues to do today. He progressively broadened his working practice both geographically and in subject terms and now has his name on at least 20 books. These range from guidebooks for walkers, climbers and cyclists to pure photographic books. He has also established himself as a writer as well as a photographer.

Landscape and outdoor pursuits remain Jon’s main areas of interest with special emphasis on walking, climbing and cycling (both road and mountain biking). Jon continues to work for various tourist boards and other clients mostly in related sectors, supplies words and pictures to a range of magazines and is a regular contributor to Outdoor Enthusiast magazine. He also contributes to several stock libraries including Corbis, Alamy and Britain on View.

Being passionate about the environment in which he works, Jon tries to work sustainably in his own practice and has a strong preference for clients who share these values. If he could always get around without a car he would, but at the moment the car remains a sometimes-necessary evil.

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